Athletes keep waiting for the medical insurance despite being promised by the government.
Athletes in Karnataka do not get medical insurance promised by the Karnataka government’s Department of Youth Empowerment and Sport. Shivaji Madappagoudra an Asian Athletic Championship winner said that he applied for medical claim on insurance last year but has not received it yet.
He commented that the government of Karnataka passed a huge sports budget but a very small amount was spent on athletes. “Medical insurance is very helpful for us as injuries are a part of sport person’s life but not all athletes are from a comfortable background and can afford the expenses of the treatment an athlete requires,” he added.
Maxim Fernandez, an official from the Sports Authority of India (SAI) said that medical insurance provided by the state government covers a lot of things such as regular check-ups, surgery, physiotherapy etc. “Providing medical insurance is in the hands of the government, I think most athletes are not aware about it. We on the other hand can only guide our athletes,” he said.
Kartikay Deshwal, a shot put athlete, said, “I never got any medical insurance from the government. These are just written policies, we do not get anything in hand.” He further said, “Both my wrists are operated on and I paid for the operation from my scholarship money. Therefore I lost everything I earned. When I applied for the insurance my application was kept in waiting.”
Aiyappa, who is a former Asian Games Athlete, said, “In our time we didn’t get a single penny for winning medals for the country, leave alone insurance. But times have changed now but not too much.” He added, “My daughter Unnati is also a Junior National Athlete, she does not get any kind of medical insurance. All she gets is a scholarship from winning matches.”
Reeth Abraham, a former track and field athlete who hails from Bangalore and is an Arjuna Award recipient said, “In sports we do not get anything without making a noise about it. Scholarship money is so hard to get. How we can expect medical insurance from the government? The only prize money I received in my entire sports career from Karnataka government was Rs 5,000 that too as a Rajyotsava award. Today athletes get various scholarships but I am not sure about any kind of medical insurance given to them.”
She added, “We have been vocal about the lack of funds but things will not change with only a bunch of us making the noise. Today’s generation of sportspersons should make the noise so that the government will listen.” She further said that the problem is fake promises by the government—they claim so many things for sportspersons but fail to fulfill those promises.
The office of Dr Jeethendra Shetty, Deputy Director of Youth Services informed that they have provided medical insurance to more than 100 sports person till now. They said that they did not get too many applications for medical insurance, but could not explain why.
